Not because he was on Mr. Belvidere....

Not because he was in Major League...
Not because he was one of the greatest beer pitchmen in history...and not because he's the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Brewers...

No, it's because he is a WWF (sorry, can't call it WWE) Hall of Famer.

According to scoutingbook.com, Kaneland High School's Casey Crosby continues to climb the charts within the Detroit Tigers organization and all of MLB's land of prospects.

As of today, the left-handed flamethrower is ranked No. 89 and considered on the rise. Here's what scoutingbook.com had to say about Crosby.

The rare kind of power lefty who can hit the upper 90's, Tigers prospect Casey Crosby has been blossoming in the shadow of super-prospect Rick Porcello, who gets most of the attention. Crosby has a live curve and a developing change, but his command isn't ready for the majors just yet. If he sharpens it a bit, he could step in as a strong number two or three in the Tigers rotation. He has good mound presence, great baseball smarts and instincts, and the competitiveness to succeed.

make sure to stop and smell the roses!
just cross the finish line first.

would announce to the NFL that if they can't trade Alex Brown, they will cut him....

would spend $90 million on a premier pass rushing defensive end and promptly say "We're going to move him to the other side of the line of scrimmage, you know, where he never really played in earning this $90 million contract we just paid for and we think he'll do better over there..."

while it's been frustrating as an Eagles fan the way they've yo-yo'd Donovan McNabb and (prior to 2009) had a bad habit of ignoring skill at the WR spot, they don't move guys around and out of position like the Bears do.

Lovie and Jerry LOVE to do this s%^*. ALL. THE. TIME.

And it always, always blows up in their faces.

Glad I'm not a Bears fan...

Oh boy.

dude wants $10K.
Ok. I can (sort of) get that.
but the other part of this listing?
wow.

Oh, Uncle Milty - how we miss you.

Former Cub Milton Bradley went on a bad rant about how he's Kanye West, Ron Artest and apparently, Scarface.

Here's the thing about Bradley - he's just a guy.
He's not a special talent.
He's not a special hitter.
And really, he's not a special mouth. There are so many other athletes that are more interesting, funnier, more clever, wittier....

The only thing that makes him interesting is his anger management issues, and I'm not so sure why everyone keeps going to this guy for his thoughts.

I don't think any other .270+ career hitter ever got so much run.
While I can't make Uncle Milty go away, I can hope those who mill around major league clubhouses will do so from here on out..

For the majority of college basketball players and ALL high school basketball players...

Oh boy Tommy Griffin...oh boy...

Retief Goosen has a pulse!
From GolfDigest.com

Retief Goosen revealed that his grandmother celebrated her 100th birthday last week. Good genes that portend a long life for Goosen?

"Well, I hope so, yes," he said. "Some days, the way you hit the golf ball, you're not really sure how long you're going to live."

For the Beacon News' girls all-area team and Player of the Year story to come out later this week.

From East Aurora and Northern Illinois alumnus Rodney Davis on our player of the year's offseason workouts:
"Unfortunately the AAU Travel ball -- you do get a lot of recognition, there are college coaches out on the scene -- but some of the things you get caught up in you lack a lot of development and the things you need to learn to not only be a good player but a good student and understand the game as well."

"She wanted more than just 'I'm going to go be on a team and start playing.' She wanted to learn how to play, different scenarios and different circumstances that go on the floor."

National champ? Gone.
Three of your Elite 8? Gone.

I've lost money quicker though. At a blackjack table in Arizona. 1 hand. 2 cards. Over.

At least I got 12 hours out of my purely-for-entertainment-purposes blue Monopoly paper.

It's an old Bears WR who undoubtedly would be their No. 1 right now.

Might as well sign this former Pro-Bowler and current HOFer now that Nathan "The Interceptor" Vasher is gone.

So the Blue Demons have been getting hammered (rightfully so) for their consistent ineptness in the Big East but they are making noise that they will make a big splash in finding their next coach.

Unless of course, you want to apply.

Sure, the dunk is spectacular, but early in the video you see some massive shot blocks...so who got pwned worse?

my breakdown of Ryan Boatright's development after his junior season...

Not that I'm saying all indoor soccer players are purely recreational, but, well, it is indoor soccer.
And, if you're playing on surfaces that can jump up and kill you, then the league you're playing in skews slightly more toward "rec" than most others.

What a great weekend to be a pro sports fan.

Is it the dawn of the DeMarcus Grady era at Northern Illinois or will one of three redshirt freshman step up?

Starting quarterback Chandler Harnish will miss spring practice for the NIU football team and running back Me'co Brown, the team's second leading rusher last season, has left the team for personal reasons.

Both were announced in a press release issued by the school's sports information department.

Harnish, a junior, will have surgery on his injured right knee. It happened during the season but Harnish came back to play on it, finishing out the season and playing in the team's game against South Florida in the International Bowl.

"Chandler will have surgery and will not be able to participate in our spring drills," Kill said. "His return will depend on how the rehab process goes, and we're certainly hopeful he'll be ready in August. In the meantime, we've got four quarterbacks on the roster this spring and we'll get those guys a lot of work."

Sports Information Director Donna Turner said she should not "shed any light" on the nature of the surgery.

Spring drills will be held from March 23 through April 24.

Redshirt freshmen A.J. Hill, Jordan Lynch and Tommy Coughlin join junior DeMarcus Grady as active quarterbacks for the Huskies this spring. Grady started four games and saw action in eight contests in 2009 and has started five games in the last two seasons. He's passed for 418 yards and run for 518.

Harnish's career numbers include a 60 percent completion percentage on 261-of-434 passing with 19 touchdown passes. He has thrown for 3,198 yards in 20 games and accounted for nearly 4,000 yards of total offense
(3,966) with 768 rushing yards.

Brown, a junior from Moss Point, Miss., gained 1,155 rushing yards on 258 carries while starting 14 games at tailback for the Huskies over the last two seasons. He was second on the team in 2009 with 645 yards rushing on 148 carries.

Good for Patrick Kane, who strutted around New York rockin' the silver medal he won in Vancouver.
I'd do that too, man.
Hey - no one knows who Patrick Kane is if you see him out of uniform. But, you rock that silver medal and team USA jacket - you never know what you might get.

Unfortunately for Kaner, while rockin' said silver medal, he took a header into the Black Eyed Peas and the lap of will.i.am.

still awesome though.

I'm getting the itch.
Like this guy.

well, maybe not. But it's awesome.
Platinum medal baby.

YES!!!

Northern Illinois University released its 2010 football schedule on Monday.

Coach Jerry Kill's Huskies will face a challenging non-conference slate that includes dates at Iowa State (Sept. 2) of the Big 12 Conference along with dates at Illinois (Sept. 18) and Minnesota (Sept. 25) of the Big Ten. The team's fourth non-conference matchup is at home Sept. 11th with North Dakota.

It will be NIU's first meeting with Illinois since 2001.

"You'd like not to play four of the first five on the road, but we're looking forward to the first game at Iowa State and that's what we're concentrating on," said Kill.

Season tickets for the 2010 five-game home schedule can be ordered now through the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center by calling 815-752-6800. Season tickets for all five
games are just $85 for the general public with a three-game mini-plan available for $50.

In addition to its five games with Mid-American Conference West teams, Nothern will play crossover games with Akron, Temple and Buffalo of the MAC East.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
2010 Football Schedule

Day, Date Opponent Site Time
Thurs., Sept. 2 at Iowa State Ames, Iowa TBA
Sat., Sept. 11 NORTH DAKOTA DeKALB, Ill. TBA
Sat., Sept. 18 at Illinois Champaign, Ill. TBA
Sat., Sept. 25 at Minnesota Minneapolis TBA
Sat., Oct. 2 at Akron* Akron, Ohio TBA
Sat., Oct. 9 TEMPLE* DeKALB, Ill. TBA
Sat., Oct. 16 BUFFALO* DeKALB, Ill. TBA
Sat., Oct. 23 C. MICHIGAN* DeKALB, Ill. TBA
Sat., Oct. 30 at W. Michigan* Kalamazoo, Mich. TBA
Tues., Nov. 9 TOLEDO* (ESPN2) DeKALB, Ill. 6 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 20 at Ball State* Muncie, Ind. TBA
Fri., Nov. 26 at E. Michigan* Ypsilanti, Mich. TBA